Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday threatened to fire Daun Penh District Governor Sok Penh Vuth over growing disregard for traffic laws among the public as local authorities scrambled to enforce a new crackdown on offenders.

Hun Sen urged motorists to obey traffic laws, appealing specifically to people travelling through the Independence Monument roundabout which, he noted, is “located in front of the prime minister’s house”. He said the lack of respect for traffic rules in that area was “shameful”.

Phnom Penh’s streets have long been notoriously chaotic, with police officers often appearing to turn a blind eye to rampant, blatant infractions.

“I do not blame the people, but the law enforcers. Why do they not take care of this problem?” he asked. “If this thing still happens, the Daun Penh district governor will be the first one to be dismissed,” Hun Sen added.

He said for now, motorists who committed traffic offences such as driving the wrong way down one-way streets, would have their vehicles confiscated for three days. “The second time, it is going to be three months, and for the third time, [we will] seize the motorbike or send someone to jail,” he said.

“I plead again and again, but you do not listen, and [say] ‘It is only one time, and there is nobody there’, but I am. I took pictures from the top of my house . . . Once I came out to pray to the moon, and I took pictures,” he said.

Hun Sen said he had to lecture his own family on improper driving. “Last night, I advised them all, including the nanny. If they are the children of the prime minister and they do not respect the law, who is going to respect [it] then?” he asked.

Hun Sen’s speech came in the midst of a crackdown on traffic violations that began at the New Year.

The Daun Penh district police yesterday reported stopping and confiscating 209 motorbikes, 11 cars, 13 tuk-tuks and a mobile café on January 1 and 2.

Officials at the Daun Penh traffic police station declined to give figures for vehicles seized yesterday because the chief was not present. However, there were well over 100 motorbikes in the parking lot, along with about a dozen tuk-tuks and six cars.

Motorist Chhorn Samneang was travelling the wrong direction on a one-way street when he was stopped earlier this week. His motorbike was confiscated and he was told to sign a contract pledging not to break the law again. He said he will be able to retrieve his motorbike today.

“To get the motorbike back I need a copy of my identity card and the vehicle registration card,” he said, adding that he was not asked to pay a fine.

Ear Chariya, founder of the Road Safety Institute, said that impounding vehicles might make drivers think twice about breaking laws, but he believed disregard for traffic laws is too entrenched to be rooted out by short-term crackdowns.

“Too many people now break the law,” Chariya said, adding “there is not enough space for all the [impounded] vehicles if they are going to implement it seriously”.

Chariya also said it was common for the government to implement new regulations at the beginning of the year, before tapering off later on.

San Chey, executive director of the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability-Cambodia, said traffic disobedience “happens almost everywhere in Phnom Penh”, adding that the law should not just be enforced near Hun Sen’s home.

“Intervention should be applied . . . [in] all places without exception,” he said.

MOST VIEWED

After a US congressmen introduced bipartisan legislation that will enact sanctions on Cambodian officials responsible for “undermining democracy” in the Kingdom, government officials and the ruling Cambodian People’s Party on Sunday said they regarded the potential action as the “violation of independence and sovereignty

Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Battambang will struggle to attain smart city status without adopting far reaching master plans, according to officials tasked with implementing the program.
The brainchild of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), the smart city program seeks to link up

The government has ordered all domestic and international internet traffic in the Kingdom to pass through a Data Management Centre (DMC) that has been newly created by the state-owned Telecom Cambodia, in a move some have claimed is an attempt to censor government critics.
Spokesman

The Cambodian tourism sector must be prepared to welcome a growing number of Chinese tourists, as they lead the globe in the number of outbound travellers and were responsible for the most visitors to the Kingdom last year, the country’s tourism minister said on